There are many reasons for making music, most of which have to do with personal success and career paths but music also makes for the perfect platform for more personal expression. Sometimes we find it hard to put things into words, to properly articulate emotions, particularly grief, but pouring such feelings into a song can often focus what we really have to say. Not only does it cause us to hone down our feelings into a limited lyrical statement which causes us to condense our thoughts to their very essence but music itself is often more emotive and connected to the heart and soul as mere words can ever be.
And this is the drive behind Never. Having been raised by his maternal grandmother, Amaru sums up what she meant to him and what feelings he had to grapple with when she passed, then and indeed since, and now he has put all of that into a song. Never is a lyrical balancing act, an expression of pure love and a mourning for the passing of the most important person in his young life.
It takes the form of a gentle pop ballad but one driven with some distant rock guitars to add weight and drive. It is a timeless sound and you can hear echoes of many classic crooners, soul artists and pop balladeers in its tones and sonic trappings. But such sonic building blocks are really just there to drive a message which is never anything other than heartfelt, honest and humbling. And for such an intimate and personal message it is also a song which is universally relatable. Something which began as one man’s emotional release and a way to channel heartache is also a song which many people will now be able to use as a suitable tribute to losses they have experienced in their own life.
